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Fort Collins painter Ron Burns' 'Doc,' one of the pieces in his exhibit, currently at CSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. / Courtesy of Ron Burns

Check out the open house Friday, Jan. 11

• CSU’s Vet Teaching Hospital, 300 W. Drake Road, is tonight hosting an open house at which attendees can catch a glimpse of the rotating art exhibit in the lobby. • The event starts at 5 p.m. and is open to the public.

Want to become an artist-in-residence at CSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital?

• The VTH Art Committee selects all artists, whose work would be displayed in the hospital’s rotating exhibit. Artists should be local; meaning that they live within Colorado. • Subject matter must include animals; specifically those treated at the hospital (pets, equine, livestock but not wildlife) and may include people. • Style and medium may vary. Art will hang in the exhibit for up to a three-month period. • For more information, contact curator Gail Bishop at (970) 297-4578 or email gail.bishop@colostate.edu.

About the current artist: Ron Burns

• Formerly of Scottsdale, Ariz., Burns moved to Fort Collins about 1.5 years ago with his wife, Buff. • The self-taught artist started painting more than 20 years ago, starting first with a portrait of his then-newly rescued dog Rufus. He has since painted shelter dogs, Sirius, the explosive-detection dog who died in Tower Two on Sept. 11, 2001, therapy dogs and more. He is the first and only “Artist in Residence” at The Humane Society of the United States, according to CSU’s Vet Teaching Hospital. • Burns and his wife currently own two dogs: Emma, a 4-year-old part-German shepherd, part-rottweiler or part-doberman; and a new puppy, Breezy, a border collie terrier. • To learn more about Burns’ story or his artwork, visit www.RonBurns.com. • His work will be displayed at CSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, 300 W. Drake Road, through the end of the month.

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It’s a plight with which pet owners may relate: sitting — sometimes for hours on end — in a drab waiting room, fingers twiddling and mind racing as veterinarians do everything they can to treat an ongoing illness or scramble to save a beloved pet.

It’s for this reason, among others, vibrant paintings of almost-grinning and tongue-waggling dogs, a stoic kitty and apparently curious multicolored cow hang on the lobby walls of Colorado State University’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins.

“We wanted to bring some joy to our clients,” said Judea Franck, development officer for the hospital.

Gail Bishop, clinical coordinator of the Argus Institute, has for years wanted to splash the hospital’s walls with more art. Finally, in April, her dream came to fruition in the form of a rotating exhibit that features multimedia work by local artists.

“It’s a win-win-win,” said Bishop of the benefit for artists, hospital patients and the facility, which sees roughly 30,000 clients, haling from across the globe, enter through its doors each year.

Echoed Franck: “It helps to create a healing environment” for pet owners in various states of emotion during what can be a “fragile time,” when their pet’s life hangs in the balance.

The exhibit has formerly featured dozens of pieces by students, hospital employees and a local artist. The focus today is on the rich and bright pieces by Fort Collins painter Ron Burns, a self-taught artist whose work has drawn much national acclaim and “fills his heart.”

What started with a portrait of his then-newly rescued dog Rufus has since grown into a collection of canvases bearing animals — mostly dogs. The goal is having people see Earth’s creatures in a “different light,” he said, “that they get a better sense of the dog, the cat or cow, whatever.”

“I fell in love with the idea of painting dogs from shelters and donating back the proceeds to the shelter,” said Burns, from which a portion of his sales goes back to CSU’s VTH.

Among the exhibit at the hospital is a vertical portrait painted five years ago of a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Doc. His owners commissioned Burns to paint the tribute — and loaned it to CSU for the installation — after Doc died last year, after being diagnosed with advanced cancer.

He was one among thousands of furry patients treated by the staff at the hospital.

Asked whether he’s painted humans, Burns replied with a laugh: “I tried it once.” His wife, Buff, and toughest critic, compared the result to the visuals in the horror movie “Chuckie“ — people aren’t meant to be portrayed in greens and purples, he agreed.